Prologue
Lela James had all but given up on true love. Her theory was that "true love" only existed in Hollywood and romance novels.
However, her way of thinking changed once Tyrese Whitman took her world by storm a year ago. Tyrese wined and dined her, and put to shame some of the best sex tales she ever read when they made love.
Tyrese was the kind of guy that could turn a woman to mush at the mere sight of him. One look in his eyes and a woman would imagine herself at the alter with him, and soon after 'I do' rushing off to a honeymooner's suite to do all sorts of things with him. He was just that sexy and alluring.
Last week, out of the blue, Tyrese popped the question, and Lela had been on cloud nine ever since. Mrs. Lela Whitman, she massaged the thought of being his wife into her mind, and thanked God for blessing her with a man. God knew she had her fair share of bad ones to last a lifetime.
Although he didn't keep a steady job, he was laying the groundwork to open an adult entertainment business. In the meantime, his only income came from hustling CD's and DVD's from his trunk, but the money coming into the house was little and far in between.
Consequently, Lela knew it wasn't about the money with Tyrese.
He made her feel sexy, free, and safe with him. After her last lover from hell, Kelton Walker, stomped her heart into the ground, literally and figuratively, Tyrese was a breath of fresh air. He never raised his hand or voice at Lela, and as far as she could see, Tyrese was marriage material.
The only thing that irked her about him was his "I'm not working for the white man" mentality. If she had a dime for every time he said that, she would be richer than Bill Gates.
Though she could respect his ambitions to own his own business, that statement about drove her nuts! Sometimes a man has to swallow his pride and punch a clock for a paycheck while he is chasing his dreams. She constantly dropped subtle hints, hoping he would pick up on the fact that she needed him to bring home some steady money, especially since he promised to pay half the bills when he moved in months ago.
As long as he treated her like a queen and her six-year-old son, Antwan, like a prince, his being financially challenged did not stop her from accepting his love and reciprocating it.
When she thought back to her past relationships, she knew Tyrese treated her better than any of the other scrubs she had given her heart to. At the top of that scrub list was Kelton, who knew how to make a woman's life hang sideways. Even though Lela had broken up with Kelton two years ago, the painful memories from their relationship were etched into her psyche and set in stone, every terrifying moment.